1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a system, preferably mobile, for cutting and pelletilizing walls of rock and the like.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Cutting and removal of rock, primarily but not limited to a wall of rock, has, in the past, been limited to blasting and ripping down the stone with subsequent passage of the blasted stone through a crushing machine to provide smaller pieces. In particular, such methods are presently used in the mining of glaucunite, a material used for secondary roads or as a road base for primary roads which is considered the leading building material in many regions. The primary desirability of glaucunite is that it is an oil lacerated rock and therefore does not create dust when a vehicle travels thereover.
Such prior art techniques are dangerous in that blasting requires the use of dangerous instrumentalities and are relatively costly since blasting expertise is required and the blasted rock must subsequently be further crushed to provide pellets of desired dimension.
Rotary cutting units have been known in the prior art. Examples thereof are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,858,347, 4,785,560 and 3,779,408. None of these patents, however, relate to rock or the cutting of materials of similar hardness.